Stealing Apples
by TarkatanAssassin
Summary: Modern Assassin's Creed Fic: Named by the public, the Organisation is powerful, secretive, and in control of Animus Cove. The town's residents have always accepted this, something Jacob Frye, leader of the Rooks, has never understood. He's determined to rebel against them, even if it involves creating an uneasy alliance with his gang's main rival.
1. 1 Jackdaws and Rooks

Nassau bar was an old, mostly wooden building set up across the town's beach. Animus Cove's residents visited the bar before 5 pm. Once it was 6, they would quickly leave for two reasons.

The first reason was the 'Pirates.' So-called pirates, as most people in town said behind their backs. Really, they were a group of men who liked to be loud and brash, travelling over speed limits on their boats out at sea, and shouting and yelling when walking down the streets. They didn't care for laws, they took whatever they wanted when they wanted, majority of it being some form of alcohol to get piss drunk off of.

Even in a drunken state, they were avoided. Perhaps even more so. They were known to brawl whoever so much as looked at them wrongly, and were more likely to attack someone when drunk. Their leader, Edward Thatch, better known as Blackbeard due to his impressive amount of facial hair, was a ruthless but fair man. He knew what he wanted for his crew, and would work to achieve it in a somewhat honest way, with the welfare of his crew in his mind the whole time. The actions he took were usually illegal, but he was always careful to make sure his crew was in good condition afterwards, and everyone was cared for.

Only one person surpassed Blackbeard's ruthlessness, and that was Charles Vane. Often dressed in black and red, Vane was as cunning as he was clever, finding new ways to swindle shop keepers out of money. Vane was known to get his own way, no matter how strongly another protested against it.

The polar opposite of Vane was Benjamin Hornigold. Hornigold was perhaps the most honest of the group. He favoured colours in varying shades of blue or gold, and always had his brown hair tied back into a neat ponytail. If anyone were to protest against robbing a store, it was Hornigold. It wasn't clear to outsiders why Hornigold had chosen to join the crew, especially as he never seemed to fully agree with the others.

The golden boy of the group was most definitely Edward Kenway. A blond haired, blue eyed man with a neat beard on his jaw, Edward was the one who always caused trouble. He was rowdy, loud, and had far too much confidence for his own good. Multiple tattoos marked his arms and chest, he liked to wear a singlet to show off his muscular arms and tattoos. A shark tooth necklace was around his neck, he claimed it was from a real shark, but few truly believed him.

It was 6:10pm, meaning the Pirates were late. Still, Blackbeard opened the doors to the pub, long black hair and beard swishing slightly. He wore a leather jacket and dark jeans, pushing past the few remaining people leaving the bar. Hornigold and Vane pushed past him, claiming their table in the centre of the bar, next to the large window. Blackbeard nodded a greeting to Calico Jack Rackham, the owner of the bar.

Rackham's style was, to put it bluntly, ridiculous. He wore pinks, yellows, oranges, greens, any colour that he liked, which was all of them. His clothing was flamboyant enough to make a blind man blink twice. It took a while for someone to get used to his fashion, but once you did, you'd find a fairly reliable friend in Jack. The only downside to him was his fondness of whiskey, his voice was always slurred, and he was never truly focused.

The men sat at their table, speaking loudly to one another. They were the only people in here besides Rackham and a waitress, they didn't care who heard them.

The waitress walked over to them, warmth in her green eyes. She smiled at the men, pulling a pen and paper out of the front pocket of her dress and announcing that she'd be taking their orders. Her hair was long and deep red, she had pink flowers in her hair, and wore a green dress with an apron over it. Her name was Anne Bonny, most of the town knew her, especially the men. Every man, and some women, had taken a fancy towards Bonny, although she stayed faithful to Rackham.

She walked away once they took their orders to prepare their drinks. Vane leant forward in his seat, hands clasped together and brown eyes intent and focused.

"'Aight, boys, I think I've gotta scheme for us." He held his hands up, drawing everyone's attention. "They bring in shipments of-"

"Hey, I think we should wait for Kidd to get here." Edward intervened, sea blue eyes flickering to the door. Recently, he and Kidd had become close friends, he'd learnt that Kidd was the best at planning, and it was in their best interest that he was present for important decision making.

Vane laughed, shaking his head and staring at the younger man. "Edward, yer not taking a fancy to Kidd, are ya? You sure he's legal age?"

"Oh, piss off, Vane." Blackbeard grumbled, jumping to Edward's safety. Edward let out a sigh of relief, sinking back into his chair slightly. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Vane's snarky comments, especially after how his day had been. His ex, Caroline, haven't responded to his messages once again, and he was never one to appreciate being ignored. "Kidd's a good lad, Edward's better off in 'is company than yers."

"Really? The man who's twice the devil his father was, is better company than an arse like Vane?" Hornigold scoffed, shaking his head. "I see no sense in your reasoning, Thatch."

As if he could sense his name, the pub doors opened, and James Kidd walked into the pub. Kidd walked with a slight swagger; he wore deep red jeans and a dark green jacket. His black hair was slicked back, some stray hairs hung over his face, they just covered his scar, which went through his right brow, down to his cheek. It was fortunate the blade hadn't cut into his eye, two perfectly healthy brown eyes squinted in the sudden light of the bar. He nodded when he saw the crew, and walked over to join them.

Every time Edward saw him again, he was reminded of how short Kidd was. He liked to wear clothes that were a size larger than necessary. When asked about it, James would say he hated the feel of tight clothes. Even in the middle of summer, he wore long sleeved shirts and pants. Kidd sat next to Edward, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "What's wrong with ya, Kenway?"

It always sounded like his voice was just too low to be natural. Kidd seemed to try and out man everyone else, he always pushed to be as masculine as possible. His actions would've been annoying, had he not been Kidd. It was expected for a lad of around nineteen to be finding his place in the pecking order. Hell, Edward felt sorry for him, not a single strand of hair had grown on Kidd's chin, and in their crew, beards were considered masculine and important.

"Aw, Kidd," Vane's voice was as patronising as possible. He grinned as James looked up at him. "He's pining over-"

"Caroline." Edward cut him off, shooting Vane a quick glare before looking at Kidd. He smiled slightly. "She hasn't responded to my messages, I don't think I'll be winning 'er back."

James rolled his brown eyes. "Oh, don't you be all mopey now. She ain't good for ya, Kenway." The insistence in Kidd's voice surprised Edward. Sure, they were friends, but he didn't expect him to be this concerned. "She made you miserable when yer joined Thatch and the crew, an' she's makin' you miserable now, after she's left you."

"The lad's right." Blackbeard nodded in agreement. He gestured to Kidd. "It seems James here has had some bad experiences with ladies as well. Don't let it get to ya, Edward. You'll get over her soon enough."

"I just need a drink." Kenway grumbled, tracing the grain of the wooden table with his finger. He heard Kidd huff next to him, but Edward didn't look up until he heard the clank of glasses on the table. Anne didn't stay to talk, she was quick to join Rackham at the counter once again.

The men joked with each other, even Edward manages to crack a couple of terrible puns. He'd thought the drink of rum would soothe his worries, but in reality, it made Edward go from miserable to angry. He wanted to punch the wall over and over, but didn't want to receive another scolding from James. Instead, he let it simmer inside him, still attempting to drown the flame with his drink.

It was during one of Thatch's booming laughs that the pub's door flung open. Rackham stopped holding onto Anne, he stood to yell at whoever had walked in. "You piece of shit! What makes you think you can slam open me door, huh?! You're payin' fer any damag, ye hear?!"

Rackham was too deep into his rant to realise the Pirates had stopped laughing. All the men were watching the door, eyes narrowed, hands reaching for concealed weapons. Edward had to blink many times before his vision cleared, and he realised who they were.

They stood at an equal height; both had dark hair, pale skin, and wore mainly black. One was male, he wore a grey shirt, black jeans, and a long black jacket with dark green fabric on the inside. He had stubble on his jaw, shaved into mutton chops. His black hair was slicked back, similar to James' but messier, and his eyes were hazel, a scar went through his right brow.

The woman next to him had her hair woven into a complex braid; Edward was sure it was long when it was down, but she'd braided it so it ran up into her hair, not going past her chin. Freckles crossed over her cheeks, she wore a jacket similar to the man's, but instead of green on the inside, it was a deep red. Her eyes were a piercing blue, paler than Edward's, and contrasted against the eyeliner she'd put on.

Thatch spat onto the floor, dark eyes never leaving the newcomers. He straightened, wiping his lip on his shirt before growling. "Fryes."


	2. 2 Broken Nose, Wounded Pride

At this point, Rackham had stopped yelling abuse at the people in the doorway. He'd noticed the men and women dressed in varying shades of green behind them, and turned to his girlfriend. "Go out the back door, Annie." He whispered, nervously looking back at them. She heard the worry in his voice, but Anne stayed put, her green eyes scanning the newcomers.

Pirates were one of the reasons people left the pub at 6pm. The other reason was the Frye twins, and their gang called the Rooks. Jacob and Evie Frye were not to be messed with, the twins may have their differences, but upsetting one usually meant you'd find the other coming after you. The Rooks were their main support, although it was often Jacob who led them, Evie only asked her brother's gang for help if she desperately needed it.

Neither the Pirates or the Rooks liked each other. The Rooks didn't like how the Pirates stole, and the Pirates didn't like how the Rooks stopped them from stealing. The Pirates watched the Frye twins walk into the pub, all five men wary of them.

Jacob Frye swaggered towards Calico Jack Rackham, waving at him with a smirk spread across his lips. Rackham didn't return the wave, Edward didn't doubt he was reaching for the rifle under the bar bench.

"We'll take a serve of whiskey, thanks." Jacob put an elbow on the bar, grinning at Jack. He looked over at his sister, who had her arms crossed as she walked, boots making the wooden floorboards creak. "Enough for the gang, minus Evie."

Rackham opened his mouth to demand payment, but before he could get any words out, Jacob dumped a bag of coins onto the bar's counter. Calico Jack looked over it once, before grabbing it and shoving it into one of his jacket's pockets. He nodded to Anne, who moved to collect glasses for the gang.

Evie walked past the Pirates, scrunching her nose up as if they were a bad smell. All stayed quiet for a few minutes, it was James who broke the silence. "Miss Frye."

"Mister Kidd." She returned, turning to the table now that James had spoken to her. For the first time, Edward noticed a black lace choker around her neck. Perhaps it was the rum speaking, but Evie Frye looked far more beautiful now that he'd seen her up close. In his drunken state, he considered Evie as a possible replacement for Caroline.

Had he been sober, Edward would've slapped himself. Or asked Kidd to do it for him, he knew the young lad would've taken up the offer in seconds.

His voice came out as a slur, but he managed to give her a lazy smile, and half raise one eyebrow. "Miss Frye. I've heard that you can handle a staff quite well." Vane snickered at his words. Too busy admiring Evie, Edward didn't notice Jacob Frye look over when he heard the comment. Evie visibly stiffened, her blue eyes narrowing. "How about ye handle mine?"

"Or," Evie put a hand on her hip, raising an unimpressed eyebrow, "how about I shove said staff up somewhere the sun doesn't dare touch, Kenway?"

"You're one with interesting tastes, huh?" He grinned at her reaction. Evie's lips tightened, she narrowed her eyes further and clenched her fists. "Hey, I'm not one to judge. I can accept whatever the lady prefers."

A sharp, sudden pain spread across Edward's jaw. At first, he thought it'd been Evie who'd struck him, but he soon realised it was Jacob who had landed the blow. The male Frye's face was neutral, but his punch had been hard enough to knock Edward back into his wooden chair.

He'd accidentally dug his teeth into his lip as he'd been punched, opening the skin and spilling some blood. Still smirking, Edward wiped it away with the back of his hand, climbing over Kidd to stand closer to Jacob. He stood straight, puffing out his chest to look stronger. He was a few centimetres taller than Jacob, but Jacob didn't stand down.

"Ah, just what I wanted." Edward grinned, rolling his shoulder back in an attempt to quickly warm his muscles up. "An excuse to punch a Pommy like yerself." He clenched his fist, ready to strike Jacob, but Frye put his hand up to stop him, a grin spread across his lips.

Jacob shrugged his jacket off, kicking it away once it landed onto the ground with a soft thud. Evie rolled her eyes behind him, a small grumble of, "You just _have_ to show off, don't you?" was heard. Jacob pulled his shirt up over his head, flinging it at a nearby Rook and grinning at Edward. A chorus of "oooooooohs" was heard from the surrounding Rooks, Jacob seemed too proud of himself, his grin widening at Edward's surprise.

"Bring it, Kenway." Jacob gloated, raising his arms. He had a bird tattooed onto his left shoulder, and a cross on his arm. Yes, Jacob Frye was a muscular man, but Edward was certain he looked even stronger than Jacob.

"Kenway." James warned, as if reading Edward's thoughts. Edward could feel everyone's eyes on him, watching to see if he'd accept the challenge. His pride was at stake, and despite feeling guilty for ignoring James' warning, Edward pulled his shirt off. No Rooks cheered, but Vane and Thatch piped up, cheering louder than all of the Rooks could combined.

James and Evie shared a look of annoyance; had they not been in rival gangs, Edward was certain the two of them would be amazing friends. Right now, Edward was focused on taking down Jacob, and judging by Jacob's lowered brow, his focus was also on fighting.

Hazel eyes met blue, and both men dashed towards the other. Edward aimed for Jacob's jaw, but he was too slow, and was blocked. Despite being clumsy on his feet due to the rum from earlier, Edward was able to step away from Jacob's attempt at foot-sweeping him.

The Rooks all cheered for Jacob, but it didn't bring Edward down. No, it made the pirate even more desperate to win, to prove them wrong. He hit Jacob hard on the arm twice, hoping to leave bruises. In his rush, he left himself open for attack, and Jacob's fist connected with Edward's left eye, forcing the blonde man to stagger back.

Edward kept his lips shut to both prevent himself from gloating, and to stop the rum he'd had earlier coming back up. Now more pissed off than before, Edward took two quick steps forward, aiming for Jacob's nose. He connected with a right hook, hearing a satisfying _crunch_ from the break. Blood spurted out of Jacob's nose, and he stumbled back, clutching the broken cartilage.

A colourful array of swear words spilled out of Jacob's mouth, almost as fast as the blood that dripped out of his nose. Evie, who was now holding Jacob's shirt and jacket, put a hand on her twin's shoulder. "Come on," she hissed, blue eyes narrowing at Edward, "we're going home." She directed him out the door of the pub, the Rooks followed them, their drinks abandoned.

Thatch, Vane, and even Hornigold cheered for Edward when he turned around and raised his bloodied fist. At first, Edward grinned and hooted with his crew. But once he saw James' disapproving look, his grin dropped suddenly. Edward crouched down to pick up his discarded singlet, any mirth he had before was gone as he pulled it over his head and excused himself.

As he left the pub, looking back at his mates briefly, he wasn't sure what hurt more; his black eye, or the disappointed look James had given him.

"You're an idiot." Evie said, one hand holding onto a cloth, the other resting on her hip. The twins had been swift to return to their home, dismissing the Rooks as Evie walked ahead of her brother. Jacob had expected snark comments from Evie, but none had come, and the two walked in silence for the whole trip.

"I know." Jacob rolled his eyes at his sister, holding his now broken nose. He winced when Evie moved his hand to dab away the blood, his sister grumbled about his stupidly more and more. When she moved to touch his nose, he slapped her hand away, warning her with a low. "Don't."

Evie clicked her tongue, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I wouldn't have to if you didn't play hero."

"He was being an arse to you, I had to defend my sister." Jacob wiped away some more blood, scowling as Evie scoffed.

"I can defend myself. Apparently," she tapped his nose, smirking at his yelp, "you can't. Besides, I'm four minutes older, I have far more experience than you."

Jacob would've deadpanned some snark comment back, but a sharp tug on his nose stopped him. Evie grabbed and snapped his nose back into place, another crunch was heard, followed by more swearing from Jacob. He pushed his twin away, returning his hand to his nose. His expression matched that of a kicked puppy as he looked at her incredulously. "Evie!"

She gave him a small smile, clearly proud of her work as she wiped his blood on the cloth. "You're welcome."

His hazel eyes looked towards the ground and he sighed. Jacob wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to regain his pride after tonight's events; a broken nose and a yelp at having his nose realigned.

Plus, Edward had looked far more muscular than Jacob had with no shirt on. Not that he'd stared for long, of course. His pride was in pieces, he wouldn't be surprised if Evie found yet another way to kick him while he was down.

Judging by Evie's thoughtful expression, she most likely was. That, or his nerd of a sister had suddenly decided to contemplate one of her books. He rolled his eyes, stood from the lounge chair he was sitting on and walked towards the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Evie half demanded behind him. She followed him into the kitchen, leaning on the counter and watching him dig through the fridge. "We don't have any whiskey."

"I know." Jacob muttered, somewhat disappointed. He shut the fridge door, slamming it to purposely annoy Evie. Ignoring his sister's rant, he moved to the cupboard and pulled out a bag of chips, opening it and shoving his hand into the packet as quickly as possible. Evie stopped her rant about "expensive appliances" and "money you don't have" to take a chip from the packet, placing it in her mouth and chewing on it slowly.

Both siblings sat in near silence, the only sound being the occasional crunch of a chip. Jacob was the one who spoke up, after he finished another mouthful of chips, he looked at his sister again. "Imagine how strong the Rooks would be with the Pirates jointing them."

Evie scoffed, shaking her head. "Do you seriously think they'd want to help us? Jacob, they're criminals. They're the type of people the Rooks go after. They steal-"

"We beat the absolute shite out of them." Jacob snapped. For a second, Evie thought he was joking, but after scanning his face, she could tell she was wrong. "Evie, stop and think about this." His enthusiasm rose the more he spoke, Jacob was now grinning. "Those snotty officials wouldn't stand a chance."

"Of course you'd bring it back to them." Evie hissed, frowning. "There is no way you and your Rooks alone could take them on. They're ruling our town for a reason."

Commonly known as "The Organisation," it consisted of a group of men and women who owned the town. They controlled everything, made all of the major choices, and had a habit of ignoring the general wellbeing of the town's people. Their leader, Rodrigo Borgia, was known to have golden words, delicately brushing over major problems in the town and focusing on increasing the Organisation's power instead. He was a short man, his hair was almost fully gone, wrinkles marked his skin, and revealed that he was in his mid seventies.

His son, Cesare, held no official power, but it was rumoured he would be taking control of the Templar's once his father died. Cesare had no job, but was well-off, and definitely above the law. Images of the Rooks Jacob had lost to Cesare flashed through his mind, the younger Frye narrowed his hazel eyes at the thought. Everyone in town hated Cesare, but no one ever stood up to him. Those who did never came home.

"You're right." Jacob snatched the packet of chips as he stood straight again. "Me and my Rooks-"

"My Rooks and _I"_

"-can't take them on alone." He finished, tilting his head to the side. Evie rolled her eyes again, brows lowered and unimpressed. He wasn't going to give up that easily. "I'm going to speak to the Pirates, see what they say."

"I just fixed your nose, don't go breaking it again." Evie warned, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you ask me, it's a terrible idea. And you're probably going to break more than your nose." She added softly.

"Evie." Jacob stood closer to her, eyes narrowed with determination. "Imagine, destroying the Organisation. You know they do nothing good for us, we need to get rid of them."

When his sister said nothing, Jacob scoffed, clearly disappointed. Still holding onto the chips, he turned on his heel to stomp down the hallway to his bedroom. A "wait" from Evie stopped him in his tracks. She seemed hesitant to speak, but after sighing, she said. "You should talk to Ratonhnhaké:ton."

"Rat.." Jacob frowned. "Rat-own-hag-e-"

"Connor Kenway." Evie said quickly. "He's strongly opposed against the Organisation. He'd offer you the most assistance."

Jacob nodded, before grinning at his sister. "Thanks, Evie." He started to walk away again, before turning once more. "But I want you to come with me. Because we're," he put his hands up and raised his voice, "the Unstoppable Frye Twins!"

Evie tightened her lips in an attempt to not laugh, but Jacob could see the corners of her mouth twitching. She shook her head. "Fine, we'll both go. If you went alone, you'd probably anger the poor man."

He pointed his fingers towards her, shaped like guns. "You know me too well, sis. We'll visit him first thing tomorrow." He didn't wait for Evie's reply as he walked towards his bedroom, a huge grin on his face. _Finally,_ Evie had decided to help him. Jacob knew that, if he gathered enough allies, the Organisation wouldn't stand a chance. After years of hating the Templars, years of living in oppression due to their cruelty, he'd finally made the first step to stop them.


End file.
